Right now, it feels like everything is coming up Kristin around here. I should avoid posting on a bad day, because then another day or two comes along where it's all good. Really good.
-good news arrives
-good conversation with far away family
-good friends to share coffee, lunch, conversation and time with
-a couple of surprises up my sleeves for Christmas (help me not reveal them too early!!)
-getting most of the cake truffles out of the house so I don't eat them!
So many things to be thankful for...
Friday, December 19, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
I'm a busy girl!
It's cake truffle time!
Just some of the ingredients needed to whip up the truffle-y goodness.
Warm cake, just read to have fun things added and waiting to be mixed and rolled.
Then dip it all in chocolate and package up...and get it out of the house before I eat too many!!
Just some of the ingredients needed to whip up the truffle-y goodness.
Warm cake, just read to have fun things added and waiting to be mixed and rolled.
Then dip it all in chocolate and package up...and get it out of the house before I eat too many!!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
pity party, table of 1
Sigh. You know how sometimes something someone else is doing or achieving looks good, better than what you are doing? I'm having one of those days/weeks/whatevers. Blah. I don't like it, because a) I want to be happy for them, b) I AM happy for them, c) it's not good to be envious and d) I'm not dissatisfied with things here. Still, it's a little difficult to be all "yay me" when I'm not fully feeling it.
To add to the pity party feelings I'm having, I just realized that I bought the wrong hand soap refill. Sure it was a good price, but I forgot just how much I loathe the smell of that refill. 2l of stinky hand soap to go...
To add to the pity party feelings I'm having, I just realized that I bought the wrong hand soap refill. Sure it was a good price, but I forgot just how much I loathe the smell of that refill. 2l of stinky hand soap to go...
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Cold and colder
It's ridiculously cold outside. Even for Northern Canada in winter ridiculously cold. It was -52 C this morning with the wind chill. That's -61 F for my US readers. Just ponder that for a couple of minutes....
back again? Stupid cold. I remote started the van this morning, and it made the most pathetic whiny noise, like it was completely unimpressed with me calling it to life. I really didn't blame it. We have 3 inches or more of ice on the bottom of our upstairs windows....and the basement windows are frosted over almost completely. There are chilly drafts from our doors, and the windows just seep cold air. Which makes me so happy for a working furnace and good heat that compensates for some air leaks. We don't have a fireplace of any variety, so it's nice to have a warm house from whatever source it comes - a fireplace dvd is a decent replacement to still have the visual of a fire.
Unless the power goes out. Which it did last night. According to the "power line" recording, they didn't know what the problem was, nor when it would be back on. I dug up our tealights and holders, and started lighting them like a mad woman. Both for light, and for some warmth. Then we threw warmer clothes on the kids, and sweaters on the grownups and settled in to enjoy the darkness. Sort of. The kids were all wired up because we were expecting to go to a party, and the excitement of that, plus unanticipated darkness was *so exciting*. I sent them to get some board games and tried to clean up the kitchen in the semi-darkness. Then we read aloud to them, and considered what our sleeping arrangements would look like in an ever colder house.
It was getting chillier in the house by the minute. Thankfully, the power was back within 2 hours. I really think that I take our electricity for granted some days. It's so nice to flip a switch and get light, power, hot water...all at our fingertips. It's so easy to become disconnected with the elements and the world around us until it smacks us in the face. We don't have a fireplace, we can't heat our home without electricity. We can't cook without it (unless we BBQ...which is wintering in the garage, and it's too cold to go out to BBQ anyhow). It's kind of sobering to realize how much we depend "on the grid".
When the power came back on, we headed out to our party, an hour behind our scheduled time. It was nice to be warmed by a glass of wine and good conversation with wonderful friends. It's also good to know who has fireplaces around town...
If you have never been in -40 or colder cold...it's really hard to describe. It's a brain hurting cold. Breathing in just *hurts*. The inside of your nose sticks together when you breathe in, and it's like you get an automatic tension headache from the chill on your face. It's just so, so cold. Your jacket will creak as you move, as though it's about to crack right off your body. It's pretty wild. I can't even fathom NOT having heat in those temperatures. Yet, our ancestors managed. Granted, they had stoves, fire places...but could you imagine not having central heat all day and night? Outhouses in the winter? No performance fabrics like fleece? Heavy winter boots? Brrrrr....
back again? Stupid cold. I remote started the van this morning, and it made the most pathetic whiny noise, like it was completely unimpressed with me calling it to life. I really didn't blame it. We have 3 inches or more of ice on the bottom of our upstairs windows....and the basement windows are frosted over almost completely. There are chilly drafts from our doors, and the windows just seep cold air. Which makes me so happy for a working furnace and good heat that compensates for some air leaks. We don't have a fireplace of any variety, so it's nice to have a warm house from whatever source it comes - a fireplace dvd is a decent replacement to still have the visual of a fire.
Unless the power goes out. Which it did last night. According to the "power line" recording, they didn't know what the problem was, nor when it would be back on. I dug up our tealights and holders, and started lighting them like a mad woman. Both for light, and for some warmth. Then we threw warmer clothes on the kids, and sweaters on the grownups and settled in to enjoy the darkness. Sort of. The kids were all wired up because we were expecting to go to a party, and the excitement of that, plus unanticipated darkness was *so exciting*. I sent them to get some board games and tried to clean up the kitchen in the semi-darkness. Then we read aloud to them, and considered what our sleeping arrangements would look like in an ever colder house.
It was getting chillier in the house by the minute. Thankfully, the power was back within 2 hours. I really think that I take our electricity for granted some days. It's so nice to flip a switch and get light, power, hot water...all at our fingertips. It's so easy to become disconnected with the elements and the world around us until it smacks us in the face. We don't have a fireplace, we can't heat our home without electricity. We can't cook without it (unless we BBQ...which is wintering in the garage, and it's too cold to go out to BBQ anyhow). It's kind of sobering to realize how much we depend "on the grid".
When the power came back on, we headed out to our party, an hour behind our scheduled time. It was nice to be warmed by a glass of wine and good conversation with wonderful friends. It's also good to know who has fireplaces around town...
If you have never been in -40 or colder cold...it's really hard to describe. It's a brain hurting cold. Breathing in just *hurts*. The inside of your nose sticks together when you breathe in, and it's like you get an automatic tension headache from the chill on your face. It's just so, so cold. Your jacket will creak as you move, as though it's about to crack right off your body. It's pretty wild. I can't even fathom NOT having heat in those temperatures. Yet, our ancestors managed. Granted, they had stoves, fire places...but could you imagine not having central heat all day and night? Outhouses in the winter? No performance fabrics like fleece? Heavy winter boots? Brrrrr....
Monday, December 01, 2008
Hello December
Welcome to the dark days of December. The sun rises at 8:20 these days, and sets again at 4pm...and we aren't even at the shortest day yet.
I'm excited about the upcoming Christmas season, if feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the work to be done with different events at hand.
Shockingly, it's really mild here. Today it was 5C in the afternoon. Which sounds nice...but it really isn't. Just enough warmth to melt more snow to turn into ice. It was really strange going out on errands with the girls today and leaving my coat behind.
There are so many things going on in my head, but so little coming out through my fingers. Oh well, I'll be more vocal here again soon :)
I'm excited about the upcoming Christmas season, if feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the work to be done with different events at hand.
Shockingly, it's really mild here. Today it was 5C in the afternoon. Which sounds nice...but it really isn't. Just enough warmth to melt more snow to turn into ice. It was really strange going out on errands with the girls today and leaving my coat behind.
There are so many things going on in my head, but so little coming out through my fingers. Oh well, I'll be more vocal here again soon :)
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